Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has revealed that the club have ended their pursuit of French attacker Thomas Lemar.
The Monaco forward has been strongly linked with a switch to the Emirates over the past month, but the manager has now admitted that the deal is dead.
The north London giants are said to have failed with at least two bids for the France international with Monaco showing no signs of offloading their asset during the transfer window.
Monaco vice-president Vadim Vasilyev recently admitted that the attacker would be staying put at Stade Louis II and Wenger appears to have accepted defeat by confirming that the French champions have ‘closed the door’.
“It’s dead because Monaco have closed the door definitely.” he said in Thursday’s press-conference h/t ESPN.
Arsenal have recruited just two players in Sead Kolasinac and Alexandre Lacazette in the transfer window – the latter on a club-record fee, but Wenger has stressed that they could be another potential signing prior to next week’s transfer deadline.
“It depends how many players will go to see if we can bring one more in. We are on alert in the last seven days,” he added.
Despite this, Wenger is ‘completely’ happy with the squad as it is but confirmed that there could be further departures before the close of the transfer window.
Gabriel was offloaded to Spanish club Valencia earlier this month, and he could soon be followed by the likes of Kieran Gibbs, Lucas Perez and Mathieu Debuchy – all of whom are in discussions with potential suitors.
